Metal plug type coke oven door



July 25, 1961 H. l.. coE

METAL PLUG TYPE COKE OVEN DooR Filed July 22, 1958 l mi :.l 40 i 1,

f/ /f ///////////////////////J////// /1 /NVENTU/ HERBERT L. COE

United States Patent 2,993,845 METAL PLUG TYPE COKE OVEN DOOR Herbert L."Coe, Pleasant Hills, Pa., assigner to United States Steel Corporation,a corporation of New Jersey Filed .luly 22, 1958, Ser. No. 750,187 1Claim. (Cl. 202248) The present invention relates generally to cokeovens and more particularly to an improved plug-type coke oven door.

Prior to my invention, the plug-type door used to close the open ends ofmodern coke oven chambers usually included a cast metal outer doorelement or panel and an inner plug section of refractory materialsecured to the outer door panel. When the door was in position overlyingan open end of the coke oven the plug section extended inwardly from thecast, metal panel into and substantially iilled the end portion of thecoke oven. The refractory plug sections consisted of special Shapedrefractory segments held together by various retaining means, usuallymade of steel or cast iron, or monolithic castings made from castablerefractories which were secured directly to the outer door panel.

The purpose of the refractory plug was to provide an insulating mediumwhich Was highly resistant to damage by the heat and atmosphere withinthe coke oven chamber and which would provide insulation for the castmetal outer door panel as well as minimize heat loss from the coal inthe coke oven near the door.

The cost of maintaining coke oven doors is one of the most expensiveitems in by-product coke oven operations. Up to the time of myinvention, a considerable portion of this expense was incurred in themaintenance of the refractory plug sections of the doors since t-heywere subject to relatively high rates of deterioration brought about byexposure to the tars and hot gases in the coke oven. 'Ihe carbonaceousvapors within the oven impregnated the small voids and crevices in therefractory and, with subsequent heating and cooling, resulted in gradualexpansion of the carbon with consequent fracture and disintegration ofthe refractory surfaces. Carbonaceous build-up between -the refractoryand the metal refractory retainers also caused disintegration of therefractory as well as distortion of the metal retainers. Further, thedifferences in the coefficients of expansion and contraction of themetal retainers and the refractory caused stresses to be built upbetween the metal retainers and the refractory which, in turn, causedsurface fractures and premature failure of the refractory.

The present invention proposes and has as its primary object to providea plug-type coke oven door having a metal plug section formed with aunitary outer wall and a partitioned hollow interior.

This and other objects will become more apparent after referring to thefollowing specification and attached drawings, in which:

FIGURE 1 is a view in perspective with parts broken away for clarity ofillustration;

FIGURE 2 is a cross-sectional lview taken on the line II-II of FIGURE l;and

FIGURE 3 is a partial vertical sectional view taken on the line III-IIIof FIGURE 1.

Referring more particularly to the drawings reference numeral 2designates a conventional coke oven having the imp-roved plug-type doorof the invention installed thereon. The door of the invention consistsof a metal plug section 6 and an outer door panel 8. The outer doorpanel 8, which is a metal casting, is conventional in structure andincludes a conventional locking means 10 which operates in a manner wellknown in the art and, therefore, will not be described in detail.

The plug section 6 of the invention consists of two essential partsincluding a metal nose section 12 and a metal retaining frame 14. rI'henose section 12, which may be fabricated from steel, cast iron or othersuitable metal, is in the form of an upstanding plate bent into channelshape and mounted on the retainer 14. A series of horizontal metalplates 16 in vertically spaced relation may be welded or otherwiserigidly fastened to the interior of the nose 12 to strengthen and renderthe nose rigid. The top of the nose 12 may be capped by a suitable metalplate 18 which is affixed to the nose by welding or other suitablemeans.

The interior of the nose 12 is divided into two separate compartments bya partition wall 20 which extends between the sides of the nose 12 andis disposed between the closed and open ends thereof. The partition wall20 consists of two spaced parallel metal plates which may be welded orotherwise secured to the interior sides of the nose 12. A mass of heatinsulating material 24 such as magnesia block or similar material may beused to iill the void between the two plates of the partition.

The retaining frame 14 is preferably fabricated from a pair of steelangles 26 and a plurality of flat plates 28.

The angles 26 are disposed in parallel spaced relation with one leg 30of each disposed parallel with the outer panel 8 and one leg 32projecting normal to the panel. Plates 28 are welded to and extendbetween the opposing edges of the legs 30 of the angles 26 at spacedintervals along the lengths of the angles. A steel toe plate 34 which ispreferably welded to and projects normally from the bottoms of theangles 26 and the lowermost plate 28' forms the bottom of the retainerframe. Gusset plates 36 are welded at spaced intervals along the lengthsof each of the angles 26 between the legs 30 and 32 thereof tostrengthen the retainer frame.

In assembling the plug section of the invention, the nose 12 ispositioned on the retainer `frame with its sides disposed -adjacent theprojecting legs 32 and its bottom resting on the toe plate 34.Vertically spaced countersunk holes 38 are provided in the sides of thenose adjacent the Vertical edges thereof which align with elongatedholes 40 in the projecting legs 32 of the angles of the retaining framewhen the nose section 12 is positioned over the retaining frame. Roundrods 42 are inserted through each set of the aligned holes 38 and 40 andwelded in place in holes 38 to secure the nose section to the retainingframe. The bottom edge of the nose is welded to the toe plate 34 tocomplete the assembly of the plug section 6.

Groups of elongated holes 44 and a group of round holes 46 are providedin the legs 30 of the angles and the plates 28 for securing theassembled plug section to the door panel 8 by means of stud bolts 48' orsimilar means. The round holes 46 together with the stud bolts 48 serveto fix the retainer frame in proper position on the door panel 8 whilethe elongated holes permit eX- pansion of the frame relative to the doorpanel.

In use, the dead air spaces formed by the partition 20 Within the plugsection 6, augmented by the mass of insulating material 2'4, providesthermal insulation which minimizes heat loss from the coal being cokedin the end of the chamber and provides thermal protection for the outerdoor panel casting. If desired, more than one partition can be providedso that more than two dead air spaces will be formed.

Experience has demonstrated that the metal plug-type door of theinvention, whose initial construction cost is less than half of that ofa conventional refractory plugtype door, has a 4greater life expectancyand can be maintained substantially less expensively than conventionalrefractory plug-type coke oven doors. Under normal operating conditionsno measurable deterioration or distortion of" the metal'plug-t'ype doorof the invention due to the heat or corrosive atmosphere inside the cokeoven has been found. The possibility of tar and/or carbon build-up. onthe metal'plug 0f the invention is minimized because of th'e. absence ofvoids and crevices in the surface of the metal nose 12. What little tarand carbon does, adhere to. the outer surface of the nose during use ismuch more easily removed with -far less labor than is required' forcleaning'conventional refractory plugs.

While one embodiment of my invention has been shown and described, itwill be apparent that other adaptations and modifications" may be madewithout departing from the scope of the following claim.

I' claim:

A coke oven door. comprising an outer panel dimensioned to overlie adoor opening' in a coke oven, a plug of metal plate inupstanding channelsection having two sides and a front Wall, said two sides and 4frontWall being integral and constituting a one-piece construction, a pair ofspaced upright angle bars axed to said panel, each. of said angle barshaving one leg projecting substantially normal to said panel, said plugbeing secured at its edges to the normally projecting legs of said anglebars so as to project inwardly therefrom into the door opening, saidprojecting legs of said upright angle bars and the sides of said plugadjacent said projecting legs each having aligned holes spacedtherealong, the holes in one side of said plug and the projecting leg`adjacent thereto being aligned with the holes in the other side of saidplug and the projecting leg4 adjacent thereto, a retaining rod tted intoeach opposing set of aligned holes and spanningv said plug to therebysecure said plug to said angle bars, said retaining rods each beingxedly connected adjacent each end with the sides of said plug, the holesin each of said projecting legs each being elongated in the directionlongitudinally of the leg thereby providing space for movement of saidrods upon expansion of said plug, and a partition wall eXtendin-gbetween the sides of the plug spaced inwardly from said panel andgenerally parallel therewith.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,440,458 Gourley Jan. 2, 1923 1,680,987 Hargrave Aug. 14, 19281,745,390 Willputte Feb. 4, 1930 1,795,515 Schwarz Mar. 10, 19311,864,333 Aldrich .Tune 21, 1932 2,491,831 Rachoff Dec. 20, 19492,744,858 Homan May 8,v 1956

